When he saw a relatively fat balance he thought that he would spend a little before paying his monthly bills but it was never the case.

“The economy is playing catch-up‚” he says alluding to the fact that the pay hike did not improve his lifestyle.

“I spent Rs.20,000 on basics such as food and cosmetic products but the same grocery list cost me around Rs.28,000 this month. It has even eaten into that 14 percent pay hike. It’s as if nothing was done‚” he said.

“Prices of grocery products have been increased on account of continuous steep rise in fuel prices‚” he added.

“No doubt, there was a wave for Modi in 2014, but government employees are disenchanted with him now,” said Raj Kumar, Assistant Section Officer. “Modi’s Cabinet Minister Arun Jaitley promised on June 30, 2016 to hike our pay beyond the recommendations of 7th Commission but Jaitley’s promise turned out to an empty rhetoric as the Modi government went back on the promise to the shock and utter disappointment of central government employees.”

“Under pressure from the coming general election due by May 2019, the Modi government has indicated that it may hike pay of central government employees beyond the 7th Pay Commission recommendations, seeking to win the Lok Sabha polls because the government knows one government employees can persuade at least 100 voters for the party,” a government official told The Sen Times.

“The two announcements that Prime Minister Modi is likely to make in his speech from Red Fort on 15 August, the Independence Day for central government employees are an increase of pay and the raising retirement age to 62 years from 60,” the official added.

“It is not easy to lose an election because it can be very disappointing, so Modi led BJP government is likely to accept above two demamds to appease 10 million central government employees including 5.2 million pensioners, most of them Hindus, have traditionally been supporters of BJP,” the official confirmed.

“Modi is a very good salesman but we are not going to fall prey to his promise again. We’ll have to wait his announcement,” Raj Kumar told us.

“While it is risky to predict election outcomes in India, where religion and caste remain the most important issues but government employees angst over pay hike and raising retirement age could cost Modi government dearly in the 2019 general elections,” Raj Kumar added.

The other side, Congress-led regional parties coalition success in many recent Lok Sabha and assembly by elections has raised their hopes of taking back in the Lok Sabha in 2019.

Fueling their optimism is the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi emerged as a man who can deliver what he promise — but four years down the road, his tall promises could be easily seen collapsing, one by one.